Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Anything and everything about Thailand
Post Reply
Up2u

Re: Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Post by Up2u »

The baht has continued to strengthen as the dollar sinks....


Bank of Thailand ready to curb recent baht strength

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... t-strength

https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/co ... USD&To=THB
User avatar
2lz2p
Posts: 957
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 8:08 am
Location: Pattaya, Thailand (Jomtien)
Has thanked: 148 times
Been thanked: 108 times

Re: Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Post by 2lz2p »

2lz2p wrote: Sat May 09, 2020 8:37 am
Up2u wrote: Sat May 09, 2020 7:57 am Not good news, the dollar weakened recently, now below 32.
I transferred money in - sent Monday by TransferWise, arrived Tuesday - exchange rate 32.405. I just now checked TW's rate - going down but was still above 32 (32.200 guaranteed for next 70 hours if I had planned to send).
There has been some weakening since my above post. My transfer arriving today from TW shows the USD to THB rate was 31.82.
Up2u

Re: Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Post by Up2u »

I received a TW transfer at 31.915 yesterday. Today the TW quotation was 31.60.
ISAC69

Re: Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Post by ISAC69 »

The THB is still strong currency .
Jun

Re: Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Post by Jun »

1 Many western countries are "printing" lots of currency. The GBP rate of 39.83 remains below 40.

2 At present, Thailand has more stable and competent leadership than the US, although the bar isn't set very high there.

3 It's always risky to rely on foreign exchange markets to do what you want. For those who have control over such matters, I think it's preferable to arrange affairs to reduce exchange rate risk.
Up2u

Re: Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Post by Up2u »

Not long ago we were cheerful when the baht hit 33; well the bad news is it strengthened and is now below 31 (hopefully for short).

https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/co ... USD&To=THB
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21458
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Re: Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Post by Gaybutton »

Foreign inflows drive baht past 31

Up 2.7% against US$ since the end of May

by Somruedi Banchongduang and Darana Chudasri

12 Jun 2020

The baht has surged past 31 per US dollar on the back of month-to-date net foreign inflows moving into local equities and bonds, a motion contrary to Thailand's sputtering economic outlook.

The local currency has strengthened by 2.7% against the dollar since the end of May, ranking third after Indonesia's rupiah and South Korea's won, according to the Bank of Thailand.

The baht has breached its 200-day moving average resistance, a technical pattern that could encourage speculative inflows, Bloomberg reported.

The baht's value touched 30.82 at one point on Thursday before retreating to 30.92 as of press time.

The local currency's value against the greenback has seen a sharp appreciation, surging from 33 in early April to pierce the 31-per-dollar threshold this month.

The baht was Asia's top-performing currency in 2019, ending the year with a value of 29.90 to the dollar as investors perceived it as a safe haven because of Thailand's high current account surplus and foreign reserves.

Chantavarn Sucharitakul, assistant governor for communications and corporate relations at the Bank of Thailand, said the baht's appreciation is in line with the trend of regional currencies as the dollar weakens.

"Recent capital inflows are mostly made up of a return of capital from Thai investors and various funds that previously invested overseas, while foreign investors have returned to invest in the local equity and bond markets at a modest amount," Mrs Chantavarn said.

Foreign exchange rates could experience volatility given uncertainty over economic conditions and financial markets domestically and internationally, she said.

Month-to-date net foreign inflows are valued at 5.8 billion baht moving into local equities and 23 billion baht into bonds, according to data from the Stock Exchange of Thailand and the Thai Bond Market Association.

The baht's rise is being propelled by higher offshore fund inflows to Asia after the US Federal Reserve signalled it would maintain interest rates near zero until the end of 2022, said Thiti Tantikulanun, Kasikornbank's senior executive vice-president.

"The baht's upward trend is expected to continue, and it could test the support level of 30.50 in the near future," he said.

Jitipol Puksamatanan, head of markets strategy at SCB Securities, said the baht has risen amid a dollar sell-off by exporters, coupled with fund inflows into the domestic capital market.

Central bank efforts to curb the baht's rapid gain have not materialised, he said.

The real yield of Thai bonds, ranked among the region's top returners due to low inflation, is another factor attracting foreign inflows, said Visit Ongpipattanakul, managing director of Trinity Securities.

The strengthening baht is, however, not in line with the country's economic conditions.

Thailand's economy is on a path to recession after shrinking 1.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, the deepest contraction since the flood-hit fourth quarter of 2011.

The economy has been relying on tourism and trade over the past several years as consumption was curtailed by elevated household debt. Investment was blunted by delays in fiscal budget disbursement and political uncertainty.

Exports and tourism have been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, with zero new tourist arrivals for April and May because of inbound flight restrictions.

The baht's strengthening value has become a worry for the central bank. Foreign exchange dealers were summoned for a meeting with central bankers last Thursday to discuss the baht's rapid gain.

The central bank asked foreign exchange dealers if it would be possible to quote gold prices in dollars instead of baht for outbound and inbound shipment transactions, as well as for the sale of imported gold to other local dealers.

The central bank also asked gold traders to meet earlier this week, but the talk was postponed.

Tanarat Pasawongse, chief executive of Hua Seng Heng Group of Companies, said gold shops could adopt the policy of trading gold in dollars, but retail gold traders would still have to convert the baht into dollars via commercial banks.

When gold prices rise, customers and retail traders will cash in their gold, leaving gold shops to shoulder a gold surplus and unavoidably export gold to maintain liquidity, Mr Tanarat said.

Gold exports are unlikely to be a root cause of the baht's recent gains because the local currency's value remained strong despite a recent decline in gold prices, he said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... ht-past-31
User avatar
2lz2p
Posts: 957
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 8:08 am
Location: Pattaya, Thailand (Jomtien)
Has thanked: 148 times
Been thanked: 108 times

Re: Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Post by 2lz2p »

Yesterday morning I set up a transfer using Transferwise - the Exchange rate was 31.655

But I was surprised with TW as this is the fastest they have ever done a transfer - usually if I set up on M - Th, for a transfer from my US Bank to Bangkok Bank, it will arrive by 2pm the following day.

However, when "sent" the transfer, this is the message I received and the deposit arrived right on schedule.
Today at 9:03 am Today at 9:03 am - You set up your transfer

Today at 10:00 am - We received your USD

- Your money's being processed
We'll pay it out in the next 57 minutes.
We pay out your THB

Today at 2:13 pm - You receive your THB
billyhouston
Posts: 127
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 5:16 am
Location: Chiang Mai
Has thanked: 38 times
Been thanked: 16 times

Re: Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Post by billyhouston »

Transferwise continue to impress. Initiating a transfer at 0801 this morning, my sterling hit their account at 0802 and the THB was in my Kasikorn a/c instantly. Less than two minutes is a Transferwise record for me since most recently it has taken of the order of 5 or 6 hours.

My banks, and banks in general, need to hang their heads in shame.
Jun

Re: Strong baht may finally weaken, according to Bloomberg

Post by Jun »

Background news on TransferWise. Useful for anyone interested in who is handling your money:

https://www.businesscloud.co.uk/news/uk ... ed-at-5bn/
Post Reply